An ITTO supported project contributed to the sustainability of tropical rain forest through curbing illegal logging as well as to poverty alleviation by recognising the right of the local community to use the resources in accordance with their customary laws.
In collaboration with GTTN members from University of Adelaide, they increased capacity in the use of DNA markers for timber tracking and species identification. The project developed genetic reference data for 72 important Dipterocarpaceae timber species, including the red merantis, the yellow merantis, the white merantis, merawan, lauan, kapur and resak.
Indonesia is one of the world’s largest exporters of tropical timber products, which are produced from logging activities in natural forests, industrial plantations and household-managed small-scale plantings, as well as from imported timber. The timber legality assurance system under Indonesia’s Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) with the EU is active since 2014 and since 2016 Indonesia began issuing FLEGT licences.
The completed project layed the foundation for expanding the DNA reference database to include all species and samples collected and for further demonstrating and integrating these methods into Indonesian timber supply chains to support legal trade.
Read more in Tropical Forest Update 28/3-4 2019.
